tarus 45 colt pump

[Frank46]

Saw one of these at the local academy store. Full length round bbl, full length tube magazine, decent wood. They were asking $499 w/o tax. I'm guessing that this is a colt lightening clone. Does anyone have any experience with these rifles?, are they worth the asking price?. Curious minds (mine went out for a strool and never came back) would like to know. Thanks, Frank

[Stevejet]

I've seen the Taurus you describe and it appears well made (great Brazilian wood and black bluing) and the price ($499) is the same here in Southern California. Another manufacturer (brand escapes me) makes that style gun and it costs $1,100 in the same store. The actions may be different and I only have "gun writers" info on the shooting aspects of the pump action. All are pretty good shooters, but I suspect there are folks who become a bit dissatisfied with lever/pump rifles when their inexperience with these types are due to the fact that they are shooting a handgun "cartridge" and expected "rifle" performance in the areas of velocity and range. Do a "Google" search and maybe you can find a variety of opinions to either whet or cool your curiosity! I really like my new Taurus M62 pump .22....beautiful wood, again...that great black-bluing finish, an extra "tang-peep sight was included for mounting on the stock hand grip and proper lube and cleaning help me endure the slightly "clunky" action. Nice shooter, too!

[dubber123]

I bought one right after they came out, and payed a bit more than that for it. Looking at it in the shop when it came in, I thought I could see something in the bore a couple inches from the muzzle, but I wasn't sure as the bore was filthy from test firing. I took it home and cleaned it, and sure enough, there were some MAJOR burrs in the bore, enough to snag a cleaning patch. The trigger sucked too, but thats a given on many new guns. I kept it a while, and even considered shortening it below the bore damage, as I have had bad results with sending guns back for repair. Finally I broke down and sent it in to Taurus, with a nice, detailed letter. Nearly 2 months later, I got the rifle back, with a big scratch on the side, a ding in the crescent buttplate, and a letter stating that they could see nothing wrong, and that I should never use handloaded ammo. I traded it for a used Rem mod. 700, losing about 300$. I have had only 2 good experiences with this brand, out of quite a few samples, and I believe this last one will be well, my last.

[S.R.Custom]

I have a friend here in town who bought one. It's been back to Taurus twice for breakage in the action... The second time, Taurus lost the gun. Despite Fed-Ex tracking indicating that it was recieved --a Taurus issued return shipping label no less-- they claim to have never received it.

I'll spare you the sordid details of my own experiences with Taurus, other than to say that Taurus appears to have made the business decision that buying off gun writers is more profitable than building a quality product and standing behind it.

[dubber123]

I have a friend here in town who bought one. It's been back to Taurus twice for breakage in the action... The second time, Taurus lost the gun. Despite Fed-Ex tracking indicating that it was recieved --a Taurus issued return shipping label no less-- they claim to have never received it.

I'll spare you the sordid details of my own experiences with Taurus, other than to say that Taurus appears to have made the business decision that buying off gun writers is more profitable than building a quality product and standing behind it.

I was trying to be nice about it!

[KCSO]

I have had 3 in and one went back. Hereis the major problem... The gun seems to work all right and the actions smooth out with use but details are lacking. The one I sent back had a bulge in the barrel under the front sight. The dovetail leaves this area thin and if you use a big hammer or a press to make up for poor fit in the dovetail it buckles the thin section of barrel wall under the sight. What this means is that the gun shoots reasonalble well with jacketed slugs but it is worthless for cast. The other two rifles delivered had to be lapped under the front sight. Lately(past 4 years) Taurus has been somewhat spotty in quality, about like Smith and Wesson in the 70's.

[MtGun44]

Our local gunshop stopped carrying Tauruses (Tauri??) when they would
not permit the shop (large stocking shop with many hundreds of guns) to
replace a 'infant mortality' failure with a replacement, new gun to keep the
customer happy, and then give the broken gun to the Taurus rep to take
care of. We are talking about a gun breaking, in most cases, the same day
it was purchased (the shop has a range attached). This really makes
customers unhappy.

Taurus insisted that the broken gun be sent by expensive shipping by the
customer and then it took about 2-3 months for the repairs. Customers
were very displeased, the shop tried for quite a while to get Taurus to wise
up, but no luck. They sold out their stock at cost and will not deal with
Taurus anymore.

Life it too short for me to buy a Taurus, given this and some other samples
of problems that should have never happened and poor factory support. It
may be a cultural thing, I see mostly shock and amazement in Europe and
the former Soviet satellites at American expectations of quality and especially
American expectations of good customer service. Perhaps the Brazilians are
the same way, I don't know.

Bill

[Frank46]

Thanks for the replies, seems like buying a pig in a poke. You don't know what you're getting until you open the box. Think I'll pass on this one. Baretta makes a copy that is way more expensive $1000, and I beleive USFA makes one also. Way out of my price range. Thanks again. Frank

[smkummer]

I believe they have better customer service.

[S.R.Custom]

.... It may be a cultural thing, I see mostly shock and amazement in Europe and the former Soviet satellites at American expectations of quality and especially American expectations of good customer service. Perhaps the Brazilians are the same way, I don't know.

Bill

As someone who has lived in Latin America for a number of years, I can tell you that this is indeed the case. If Taurus harbors any hope of producing a consistently decent product, they are going to have to move their operations to a location that has in its asset reserves a healthy supply of work ethic and craft pride.